DI: Rice Nets OT Winner as Syracuse Beats Virginia

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sophomore Kevin Rice closed the book on another thrilling chapter in the Syracuse-Virginia lacrosse rivalry. Rice's goal with one minute left in overtime propelled the 18th-ranked Orange (2-1) past the sixth-ranked Cavaliers, 9-8, on Friday, March 1 at the Carrier Dome.

Rice's deciding tally came on SU's first possession of overtime. During the sequence, the Orange attempted three shots, including two that were blocked, before swinging the ball to redshirt freshman Dylan Donahue who drew the defense. Donahue passed to Rice who set his feet and fired from five yards out over the shoulder of Virginia goalie Dan Marino and into the net.

It was Rice's first career game-winning goal.

"Well if I had to pick a spot on the field to shoot from it would be right there," Rice said. "That's my favorite spot. That's my sweet spot. Dylan dragged the bottom corner defender and I knew I had time to set my feet. I figured it was as good a shot as we were going to get."

Rice was the eighth and final player to record a goal in the game for Syracuse. Only JoJo Marasco scored more than once for the Orange. Marasco notched two goals to reach 100 points (49 goals, 51 assists) for his career.

The win was the Orange's second straight home victory versus the Cavaliers (SU beat Virginia, 12-10, at home in 2011) and marked the first time since 1999 and 2001 SU won consecutive home games in the series. It was also the fifth time in the last seven meetings between the two teams the outcome was decided by one goal.

It was clear in the early going Friday night that the game was going to be another back-and-forth heavyweight fight. The Cavaliers (4-1) tallied two extra-man goals in the first four minutes to claim the lead. Syracuse immediately responded with four goals in the span of six minutes to pull in front, 4-2.

Three of the Orange tallies in the run were by midfielders as senior Luke Cometti, redshirt sophomore Henry Schoonmaker and Marasco all found the cage. Junior Derek Maltz capped the run with a goal at the 3:41 mark of the first period.

Then it was Virginia's turn. Mark Cockerton notched his second of the night to trim the SU lead to 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, and Rob Emery, Ryan Tucker and Owen Van Arsdale added second-quarter goals to lift the Cavaliers to a 6-4 advantage at the break. Van Arsdale's strike came with five seconds left in the half and gave Virginia an added boost heading into the locker room.

However, the hosts answered again as SU junior LSM Matt Harris opened the third-quarter scoring less than three minutes into the period when he collected a loose ball and raced to the cage, beating Marino with a low shot. Harris' goal ignited a 4-0 Syracuse rally the resulted in an 8-6 Orange advantage with 13:32 left in regulation.

Unassisted goals by Virginia's Charlie Streep and Matt White tied the game with 11:36 remaining.

In the overtime period, Virginia won the faceoff, but SU goalie Bobby Wardwell came up with a huge save on White to give the ball to the Orange and set the stage for Rice's heroics.

"I thought it was just another Syracuse versus Virginia game, coming down to overtime especially in the beginning of the year," SU head coach John Desko said. "There was a lot of excitement with the ball going back and forth both ways and fastbreaks. I thought their defense played very well and I thought our defense was terrific. Bobby (Wardwell) got comfortable and came up with some big saves for us. That was huge."

Wardwell finished with nine saves in the contest, including three in the fourth quarter, and one in overtime. In addition, the Syracuse defense held Virginia leading scorer Nick O'Reilly scoreless. O'Reilly had been averaging 4.75 points per game.

The defensive effort helped the Orange overcome a 5-for-21 (.238) performance at the faceoff X. Mick Parks took every draw for the Cavaliers and won 16 of them.

Cockerton and Emery led Virginia with two goals apiece. Marino totaled seven saves for the Cavaliers.

Syracuse opens BIG EAST play on Saturday, March 9 when it takes on St. John's in the inaugural Independence Classic at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Faceoff is slated for 12 p.m. The game is a rematch of last year's BIG EAST Tournament final won by the Orange, 12-4.

Game Notes: Friday's game marked the first Syracuse-Virginia contest where neither team reached double figures … The 17 combined goals were tied for the fewest in series history (1938 – SU 13, Virginia 4) … Senior Matt Pratt scored his first goal of the season in the fourth quarter.